Thursday, June 25, 2015

Reused and Certified

6/25/15 Inks, colored pencils

I’ve been sketching Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood as I happen upon them. Last year when the
weather went bad, I started keeping a list with the intention of sketching them eventually, and I have several more to sketch from that list. I am now also using
the LFL map onlineto seek them out
when I know I will be in a specific area.

That’s how I found out about the one I sketched this
morning. After a brief business meeting in Shoreline, I cruised through the neighborhood
to look for this one, which was very clearly made entirely of reused materials.
The peak of the roof was lined with the tops of aluminum cans now nicely rusted
with a patina. The tall, narrow library had many odd-shaped pieces, some of
which stuck out from the front and back like bird perches. The weathered siding
was unpainted. The hinges, knob and lock all showed a lot of living.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this library was
the Certified Wildlife Habitat sign on its post. I didn’t know what that meant,
so I took down the web address noted on the sign and looked it up later. It’s
the National Wildlife Foundation’s certification
programto help people “create a garden that attracts beautiful wildlife
and helps restore habitat in commercial and residential areas.” Behind the library
was a fenced garden with trees and plantings that looked carefully selected but
also wild – the kind that probably attract birds, bees and butterflies. I had
no idea such a certification existed! But that’s what libraries are for, even
Little ones – to learn something new.